I Spent The Night With Superman
by Xavva
Summary: This is my version of what happened before Superman came back in Superman Returns. This uses the idea that they have conveyed in the actual film that Jason is Superman's son.
1. Chapter 1 - Lois Lane

The title read "I Spent The night With Superman".  
Yes I did, Lois thought, smugly.  
"And it was perfect!" she found herself sighing, throwing her body back onto her chair in her office.  
Well, this wasn't an office... Not yet... It was still a dusty old cubicle but, since her minor promotion, she'd gotten a bit more desk space and a little more leg room than before.  
"Um... Lois?" a voice came from behind her, followed by a hand on her shoulder. She jumped and spun round.  
"Oh, Clark, you scared me. Geez!"  
she said, one hand on her chest.  
"Sorry, Lois. Are you okay?" he asked, pushing his glasses further up his nose.  
She thought about her response. "Absolutely perfect! I banged Superman!" Well, that's what she wanted to say. Instead she said, "I'm well, thank you. Are you?"  
Clark stuttered, as he always did. "Yes, thank you. I hope your good mood lasts, Lois... Perry wants to see you."  
Lois' face dropped. There were two things particularly daunting about being told those exact words. One was the thought of stepping into his office and the second was that Clark called him by his first name. Perry was their boss. Editing Chief, but most just called him 'Chief'. He wasn't known for being particularly well-mannered towards anybody. Not even his own nephew, Richard, who had started working at the Daily Planet less than six months before.  
Clark had started working there about nine months beforehand. There were people higher up than him who had been at the job much longer who could still only call him Mr White or 'Chief'. Nobody was ever allowed to call him Perry.  
"When?" Lois asked, knowing that the answer would probably be 'five minutes ago' or something stupid like that.  
"Right about... Now. Good luck." Clark said, backing away before dawdling back to his own desk. Many people wondered how that boy ever got landed with a weekly column named Clark's Conundrums. It seemed that he was always out of his desk and walking, aimlessly, around the room or handing out coffees and moving files for Jimmy Olsen.  
Lois picked up her freshly edited article and pushed herself to move out of her seat and towards the Chief's office.  
She knocked twice and waited for the reply. Soon a gruff voice replied "Enter if you're Miss Lane. Back off if you're not!"  
She steadied herself and pushed the door open. Her boss was stood over his desk with his jacket hanging over his shoulders. Today he wore a striped tie that had small cartoon strips between the striped. "Lois, the deadline was two hours ago. You'd better have something for me or, so help me God, I'm going to start lining all of you journalists up in a line and shoot you one by one until I get my damn article on our beloved hero!"  
An eerie silence fell. His face had gone very red when he shouted and Lois had been worried about a blood vessel in his head popping many times before.  
"Chief, I was editing it and I'm sure you're going to love it." She handed over the paper. He snatched it from her hand and collapsed into his chair, reading.  
The next few minutes were uneasy. Lois didn't know where to hold her hands. In front or behind? Surely it seemed like she would bow to him if they were in front, or serve tea if they were behind..? Well, she definitely couldn't cross her arms or she could look like she had better places to be. Pockets were disrespectful. Maybe if she put them -  
"Ever heard of a stapler, Miss Lane?" he finally grunted.  
She shuffled her feet. "I've mislaid it, sir. Can't find it."  
"Borrow one. This is excellent, Lois. Now I remember why we've kept you this long, despite your attitude towards authority."  
"Thanks, Chief." she said. Actually, she was shocked that she had just been complimented somehow on her attitude? Had she taken that the right way?  
"I'll send this off for you, Lane. Keep up the good work." He laid the paper on the desk after stapling it twice in the top corner.  
"I will. Thank you." She turned to leave then stopped in her tracks.  
"Lois, sit down."  
She froze. He can't fire me, she thought. I'm on a contract, he just told me to keep up the good work. He can't fire me, right?  
She hastily sat down. The Chief leant forwards, hands clasped together, elbows on his desk. "Tell me, how did you get that interview?"  
She felt herself breathe a big sigh of relief. "Well it's a long story, Chief."  
And there she sat, babbling on to one man who had the most control over her about how she met Superman, the one man she thought she'd fallen in love with. Of course, she didn't mention that part... Or the part about the inspiration for the latest article that happened a couple weeks ago.  
All the while Perry sat there, completely intrigued by her story.


	2. Chapter 2 - Last Night

She left the office a while later with a big grin on her face.  
"So, you're alive, huh?" Richard smiled, walking alongside her.  
"Yeah. He's actually really nice, you know. Despite the face of the devil he puts on every day. I think he just does it to scare you, to be honest."  
Richard handed her a coffee before he went back to his desk. They'd never had a long conversation, just the odd few words every once in a while. Somehow he always knew when she needed a coffee the most.  
Her clock read a time she didn't even want to think about. She needed her bed, her T.V and her dark bedroom... And preferably Superman laying on her bed, waiting... But that probably wouldn't happen.

"What time do you call this, Miss Lane?" Was the first thing she heard when she stepped inside.  
"Long day at the office." she said, throwing her keys onto the counter. "Got tired of saving people?" She spun and looked at him. His blue suit managed to frame every inch of his body like a painting.  
He grinned. Perfect muscles in his face seemed to make his smile bigger, sexier. "Maybe people got tired of me saving them."  
"Maybe. Want a drink?" Lois rummaged through cupboards looking for the bourbon.  
"Top shelf, at the back." The hero said. She sighed. Damn x-ray vision, she thought. As she climbed down, she stopped. He can't read minds, can he? ... Oh, don't be stupid, Lois. You have too much of your mom in you. You're turning senile at twenty six.  
When she turned around he towered over her. "Enjoy that interview?" he breathed into her ear. She ran her hands over his chest. Somehow, no words would come out. She nodded. Give me another, she wanted to say. His lips came closer to hers and as soon as they touched she found herself losing all control of her body. She wanted to give into him. She wanted to be completely his again. Even just for a night... She'd probably say that next time too.  
It didn't take long before they were in the bedroom. She traced the shape of his back with her fingertips and she could feel his stomach tense on top of her every time she tried to get a little bit closer. My perfect haven, she thought.

She wished the night would never end. It was stupid that it had to. But she was so happy that it lasted a long time. She rolled over and watched him sleeping. Every time she saw his face she was sure they were close, even in another life maybe. There was something so familiar about the way his hair fell across his face. Something about his eyes. Who else had those eyes? There was somebody. She knew it.  
There was one thing she longed to do. Something that didn't happen last time. It was slightly petty and simple but she wanted to do it anyway...  
She leant down and laid her head on his chest and held him tightly. This man made her feel safer than anyone else did.  
Butterflies inside her took over as he wrapped both his arms around her and kissed her lightly on the top of her head.  
This was love, she thought.

Before he left, the next morning, there was an extra long kiss. There was a hug that seemed to never end. It was different. It was like he wanted the feeling to last for a long time afterwards. It slightly worried Lois but she didn't show it.


	3. Chapter 3 - The Secret

The weeks that followed were torture for Lois. Earth was starved of Superman. He was not seen anywhere. The headlines at the Daily Planet went from "Superman saves boy from car wreck" to "Where has Superman gone?".  
Every time the Chief told her to write an article on his disappearance her heart dropped. She, too, wanted to know where he was and when he would be back. She would have done anything to bring her lover back to her.

Richard placed a cup of coffee on Lois' desk. "Are you okay?" he asked her. She snapped out of her trance and looked up at the man who now sat on her desk.  
"I'm fine, thanks. Just tired." she sighed. She hadn't slept well for many nights now. Every night she'd awake, thinking that her lover had returned. Every night she'd sob when she realised he wasn't there.  
"Chief been working you hard?"  
"You could say that." A wave of nausea suddenly came over her. "Excuse me." she choked and ran to the nearest bathroom stall.  
What had she eaten that was causing this? In fact, she'd only eaten the odd granola bar for the past few days. She'd had no time to eat, she'd been chasing leads all day and every day.  
She groaned and collapsed against the door. Feeling ill was horrible. Being sick was even worse. Her throat began to sting.  
She urgently needed a Tic Tac.  
Her bag was extremely cluttered. How she found anything in there was a mystery. It was almost like Mary Poppins' bag that held bowling balls and hat stands and talking mirrors.  
What did she have in her bag? Why did she have all that she did? There were keys, lipstick tubes, tampons, scraps of paper, earphones. Wait a minute, she thought. When was her last period?  
After a few seconds it finally dawned on her.  
Oh, crap.


	4. Chapter 4 - Richard

~six months after~

"Babe, can I borrow your stapler?" Lois asked. Richard handed her the plastic over the cubicle wall.  
She stapled her new article twice in the top corner. "Why the world doesn't need Superman".  
She pushed her chair back and slowly managed to stand up. This was worth a Pulitzer Prize, for sure.  
"Whoa! Lois, you're about ready to explode." Jimmy remarked. He was leaned back in his chair, feet on his desk, holding a camera up to his eye.  
She smiled. Yes, she'd grown so much in the past few months.  
Herself and Richard couldn't wait to finally meet their little kid.

She often wondered if Richard would actually be able to work out if the child was his or not. He'd already stated that he'd accept this child whether it was his or someone else's. She knew he would never leave her.  
But some part of her still wished that Superman would come back and raise this child with her as their own.


End file.
